Dear Mr.

B, Initially going into English 1102 I was concerned because my 1101 class was ridiculously lax therefore I didnt necessarily grow as a writer; and I thought this alone would put me further behind other students who actually did a lot of work in their 1101 class. To my pleasant surprise I was not behind my other classmates at all, this was probably attributed to the fact that writing, rhetoric, grammar, and English as a whole as always bee my strongest academic area. On the first day of class just by your demeanor and through your explanation of the class I knew that the writing skills I have accumulated thus far would be challenged greatly. A lot of what we did in the course of this class required me to continuously dig deeper and deeper into my writing to find more depth to make my writing actually mean something not only to me but to my readers as well. This was challenging to me because aside from being lazy, it is sometimes challenging to convey your feelings through words that adequately explain your purpose. We also did a lot of planning, conferencing, and pre-writing before we actually go around to writing our actual papers, which was a fairly new concept for me. You left how we planned our writing solely up to us, therefore we could do as much or as less as we pleased, but in the end it would either help or hurt our final product. I liked this freedom we had with planning because since I wasnt used to doing it I wouldnt want to be forced to page limits, etc. for my pre-writing. I have a love-hate relationship with pre-writing and/or planning because I know I dont like to do it but I also know that it is helpful. I guess I dont like it because I dont always want to meditate on what I want to say I just want to write it and be done with it. On the contrary, because of my ability to plan as I please in this class I have realized I dont have to write a full out rough draft per say of my paper to plan for it. Ive found that making outlines helps me see the important points I want to hit on while helping me establish a certain flow for my paper that will make it easy, and enjoyable to read. Most of the textual evidence for what Im speaking of can be found in my EPortfolio that I submitted, so my examples will come from there. Now as far as drafts/ and pre-writing are concerned Ive already expressed how I wasnt too keen on doing it. From looking at my initial draft of my pitch for my Historical Inquiry Essay I was completely off topic, instead of contextualizing my proposal I was acting as if I was actually writing a book. I had made an entire new plot which took away from the historical relevance of my event. Comparing this initial proposal to what was said in my final polished Inquiry Essay it is evident that from having conferences and doing research I became more historically aware of my event and how I can write about it. I think I thought I was supposed to take a historical event and somehow twist it and make it my own, but you can clearly see that in my final essay I was able to take an historical event, convey the significance of it while adding a different perspective on it without distorting the historical relevance. Now, I didnt hate all aspects of the drafting/ pre-writing process; one of the drafting workshops I did like and find helpful was the Cultural Doman Analysis Worksheet. I think that for me and the type of writer that I am I dont always need to write a full out draft of my actually paper, most times I just need an outline of some sort that will lay out what

specific point/topics need to be discussed; and this is exactly what the Cultural Domain Analysis did. It had four main sections, with four topics that without a doubt needed to be discussed in my paper. All I had to do was fill it in and I immediately knew what direction my paper was going to go. Doing these different types of drafting styles allowed me to of course see what works or doesnt work for me but it also allowed me to have a system of planning that I can use for my future writings. In this class alone I did the most conferencing I have ever done in my academic career. While conference days were like a weight off because I wouldnt have class, they were days that got everything in perspective for me. During the conferences I was able to hear constructive criticism from my peers and my teacher as well. Then when the conference was over I would reflect on everything that was said by answering a series of questions. You can see on my e-portfolio from my two post-conference reflections that all the suggestions made to me were implemented in my writing I did this year. I also saw from the conferences that a lot of my writing weaknesses were reoccurring therefore I had time to master them and make some sort of sense of it. As a whole I think that the purpose of English 1102 has allowed me to come into my own writing style. Looking back at my Introduction Letter I was concerned with becoming a better creative writer but throughout this entire process Ive learned that, that skill isnt something that can be taught. Instead, I can take my writing skills and apply them accordingly when I am trying to write creatively. Also my introduction letter just vaguely says I want to come into my own writing style but it doesnt say what about my writing style I want to change/ or better. From doing things like conferencing, drafting, and class discussions I learned some specific points about writing I want to change. Now that I am reflecting on my writing I know that I want to be able to effectively use research as it applies to writing papers like Historical Inquiry Papers. I also want to be able to give all papers I write in the future a specific purpose, I want my audience to not only know why Im writing but be interested in why Im writing. I think I struggled with these 2 aspects of writing the entire year and although they have gotten better with practice they will be where they need to be in no time. Ive learned that maybe just writing what you may feel is enough is probably not enough because you have to write as if your readers have no idea what youre talking about. I think I would assume for some aspects that my reads would know what Im talking about but in doing things like my purpose werent clearly stated. Being specific to your audiences needs/ wants, and understanding how your strengths as a writer can ameliorate your capability as a great writer is important. In conclusion English 1102 has taken the writing skills I already possessed, brushed the dust off of them and added some oil so that now they run like a welloiled machine. From this course I know how specific aspects of my writing that I worked on and improved that will elevate my competence as an academic writer.